A symphony of jungle birds and waterfalls draws onlookers to a quirky bungalow on a bustling street corner. Enchanting music wafts, and there’s a feeling that recalls the anticipation of stepping onto a ride at Disneyland. Curiouser and curiouser, it’s like discovering a tropical grotto in the midst of Old Fair Oaks Village, a charming hamlet in Greater Sacramento. 

“I want it to take you to a different place,” says owner Sam Du Bose (and, yes, the Disney-esque aura is intentional). Du Bose, a voice actor, lived in Los Angeles for 25 years before growing weary of the scene. In 2015 he resettled in his hometown of Fair Oaks, a leafy suburb east of Sacramento, while continuing to work in the industry. To decompress from a stressful job, Du Bose threw himself into transforming his yard and home into a showstopper. “I wanted to make it feel like I was on vacation,” he says. 

He turned to a friend, a talented sculptor who worked in the Imagineering department at Disney, to learn how to create the look he envisioned. 

“I started playing around with cement,” says Du Bose, who used materials commonly found at the local home improvement store to create his art. Aztec-style monoliths, which he sculpted, are found throughout the yard, along with multiple water features. A large tree with twisted roots appears to sprout from a boulder, which Du Bose formed and painted himself. It’s reminiscent of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, reined in by more muted colors.

Known as the Andrews House, the bungalow was built in 1938 by Bill Andrews, who opened the first service station in the area in 1924, just around the corner from the house. (That space is now occupied by a popular antiques store, Fair Oaks Village Décor.) The distinctive river rock on the house was a common feature on buildings in Fair Oaks, as the tailings were a byproduct of gold miners dredging the nearby American River.

By 2015, the home was “in a state of extreme disrepair,” says Frank Kolafa, the listing agent for the house. It had broken windows, an undermined foundation, water damage and multiple unfinished projects, but he knew the house would sell because it had “great character.” “I loved that house,” he says. “It was just so cool.”

Du Bose saw the potential, too. After spending $100,000 to repair the foundation, he enlisted the help of his brother Mike, a general contractor, to begin the massive restoration. The brothers complement each other. “I have an idea, and my brother executes it,” says Sam Du Bose. Cosmetic improvements, including changing the trim color and replacing an awkward sliding glass door with a large picture window, dramatically transformed the exterior.

Du Bose has an artist’s attention to detail, and the interior is a work in progress. Though the bones of the house were solid, the entire interior had to be taken down to the studs. Originally a one bedroom, one bath home, Du Bose raised the attic ceiling 2 feet to make room for a primary bedroom and bath upstairs. He extended the back wall of the house to add a breakfast nook, and the galley kitchen is now nearing completion. 

In the living room, Du Bose envisioned a moody, masculine space and, in a nod to his work, a “haunted house” vibe. “A lot of my voice work sounds spooky,” he says, without elaborating further. Sconces flicker above the fireplace on the dark wood-paneled wall, and he painted the low ceiling black to “make it go away.” Along with props from an old haunted movie set, the brothers added Art Deco and craftsman-style architectural details, in keeping with the period of the home. It’s a beautiful room, despite being presently unfinished. Du Bose plans to add a herringbone wood floor.

Future projects include building a recording studio in the former basement “cold room” and a treehouse-like reading area in the loft. Du Bose dreams of someday opening a private club or speakeasy, like the exclusive Club 33 above Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean. He envisions a gathering space for creatives, perhaps “a place for artists to chill and talk about their craft.” 

Du Bose, who works under a different name, is a private person. “The house is not low profile, but I am. I have to be an extrovert in L.A. At home, I try to keep to myself.” In Fair Oaks, he says, he prefers to be an artist rather than a voice actor. He lives alone and likes to work on the house at his own pace, as a creative outlet.  

It can be difficult to maintain privacy, however, with such an attention-getting house. Rose Erickson, proprietor of neighboring business French in the Village, says, “It’s a tourist attraction in the Village. When it’s a nice day, you can’t pass the house without people stopping and wondering about it.” 

Du Bose gets a kick out of that, too. Sometimes, he’ll be out for a walk and see people standing in front of his house. He’ll join in their conversations without telling them he’s the owner. “I prefer the house to speak for itself,” he says. “I like to keep the mystery.”  

Comstock’s “Unlisted” is an insider’s look at noteworthy homes that aren’t for sale. To recommend a house to be featured, contact dmorlan@comstocksmag.com. 

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